Kansas driver whose truck rolled onto soccer field, killing two, will not face charges

A Kansas mother who was asleep in her pickup truck when it suddenly accelerated onto a youth soccer field, killing two people, will not face criminal charges, a prosecutor has announced.

Investigators concluded the 34-year-old woman had not placed the Chevrolet 1500 in park and probably pressed the gas pedal with her foot while sleeping at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita on 17 October, where her child was playing in a tournament. The inquiry included multiple witness interviews and a reenactment using a similar vehicle in the same parking spot.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said Thursday that the evidence did not support a prosecution. "I cannot prove she consciously disregarded a tremendous risk to people on that field," he said, acknowledging that the public might find his decision hard to understand.

Bennett's 28-page report examined the possible criminal charges that can arise when one person causes another's death, but found that none applied to the case under Kansas law. "If I could charge somebody, why wouldn't I?" he said at a news conference. "But I also have an obligation to stand up and say, 'It's not here.'"

The two people killed were Cole Adrian, six, and Nicholas Schafer, 35, both from McPherson, Kansas, police said. Ten others, ranging in age from five to 68, were injured and treated at area hospitals. Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan said his department spoke with victims and families before the findings were made public.

"Every lead was examined. Every piece of evidence was reviewed. Every reasonable avenue available to us was pursued," Sullivan said. "Our responsibility is not to fill gaps with assumptions or speculation."

According to the report, the woman had driven three children to the complex that morning. After two games, they left for a meal and returned by 2.30 p.m. for another match. While one child went to play, she stayed in the truck with the other two, saying she planned to nap, and a daughter placed a two-panel sunscreen over the windshield. Less than an hour later, the truck began moving.

Detectives tested the scenario by parking a Chevy 1500 in the same stall, left in drive. "The truck stayed in place until the accelerator was pressed," the report said. Bennett described the test at the news conference: "We sat there and waited and waited. After about 15 minutes we went, 'This truck isn't moving.' .. Tires against a 7in curb and it did not move."

More than 30 witnesses were interviewed, and blood tests found no drugs that would have impaired the driver's judgment. The report said she woke to screams inside and outside the truck and the sensation of the vehicle moving. People who pulled her from the truck described her as sleepy and sobbing, "saying, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry. What have I done?'" Bennett said the case could still be pursued in civil court.